Operating Support

Madeline Carlson: Carlson is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in illustration. Growing up in Buffalo, Minnesota, they had many artistic and storytelling influences from a young age which shaped their artistic identity as an adult.; Robyn Earhart: Earhart's writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Antithesis Journal, Barren Magazine, Columbia Journal, the Under Review, and Water~Stone Review. She teaches creative writing and lives in Saint Paul, MN with her husband and pets.; Scott Hebert: Hebert has been a staple of the arts community in greater Minnesota since 2008. He began off-stage, taking an interest in technical elements while working with Renegade Theater Company. He joined the newly formed Renegade Improv in 2009, a role he would serve in for nine years and 750 shows. In 2011, his desire to be a storyteller led him on-stage. Over the next seven years, Scott participated in 35 productions with Renegade, The Duluth Playhouse, and Wise Fool Shakespeare. In 2016, Hebert took his talents online, becoming an affiliate content creator for Twitch.tv. In 2018, Hebert collaborated with artists from the Duluth theater community to help him create, produce, and perform in Twin Portals, an original Dungeons and Dragons podcast. Over the last five years, Twin Portals has performed twelve live shows to an engaged, passionate, and growing audience while filling in the story with over 100 hours of monthly audio content.; Sonja Jacobsen: Jacobsen graduated from Hastings College (NE) with majors in instrumental music performance and music education (K-12). After teaching in NE and MN she joined Jacobsen Metal Fabrication, Inc as VP/office manager. As a member of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors she served two terms as development chair directing all fundraising efforts and long-term gifts. Serving two terms as president she attended League conferences in St. Louis and Minneapolis.; Jacelyn Johnson: Johnson is the founder/CEO and creative director of JahPenee Productions, a film/TV and music production company based in Los Angeles and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Johnson has hired more than 200 jobs opportunities for artists working in Los Angeles and the Twin Cities since 2014. Johnson is a former grant receiver of the Minnesota State Arts Board 2022: Creative Support for Individuals, wherein Johnson wrote, directed, and produced a short film, ?FETISH?, which is now showing in the film festival circuit. In 2023, Johnson was the casting director and producer of a CW Network television show ?The Mask?, a Hulu commercial, and produced a local provocative yet informational podcast dealing with the mental and emotional health of BIPOC youth in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota. Johnson has created several youth entrepreneurship programs geared towards counteracting youth homelessness and basic social skills and entrepreneurship training. Coming from a strong educational, music and theatrical background, Jacelyn is primarily focused on documentary form storytelling of BIPOC communities and uplifting artistic BIPOC communities' equity, in the entertainment industry.; Emily Kelson: Kelson has more than four years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has dedicated much of that time to developing her skills as a grant professional. She currently works as the grant writer for Loaves and Fishes where she manages all points of the grant proposal process. In 2022, Kelson served as a grant application reviewer for the Minnesota State Arts Board during the Creative Support for Organizations grant cycle. ; Wendy Petersen Biorn: Biorn has worked as the executive director of the Carver County Historical Society for seventeen years. In total, she has worked for nonprofits for more than 35 years. She holds a Masters's degree in public and nonprofit administration and an undergrad degree in business administration.; Germaine Riegert: Riegert is an elder member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation. She has a BA in accounting and business administration and an AA in Native American studies. She is a widow with six surviving children plus several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Riegert has served on the Region 2 Arts Council for two terms as the representative for Mahnomen County and has served as a grant reviewer for the past two Minnesota State Arts Board grant review teams. She is an art appreciator and feels strongly that the arts can make the world a better place to live. Her areas of experience are with string arts of crocheting, embroidery, and needlepoint which she does for her satisfaction and gifting.; Kameron White: White is a comic artist, illustrator, and designer. He graduated with a BFA in comic art from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2018. As an Afro-Indigenous, queer, and disabled individual, he's been in a place where not seeing yourself represented or represented in a stereotypical light can affect you immensely. Rather than let it discourage him, it powers him to move forward, making sure people see themselves and their stories represented. He is an Ignatz and Visionary Honors award-winning artist. In 2022, he was chosen as one of the participants in the DC Comics Milestone Initiative program.